**FBI Investigation of Georgia’s 2020 Election Initiated by Trump Administration Lawyer, Affidavit Reveals**
ATLANTA — An FBI investigation into the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County was launched based on information provided by a lawyer who worked for the Trump administration and who also assisted former President Donald Trump in his attempts to overturn the election results, according to an affidavit unsealed Tuesday.
The affidavit, authored by FBI Special Agent Hugh Raymond Evans, prompted a judge to approve a search warrant for Fulton County’s elections hub located just outside Atlanta. The FBI executed this warrant on January 28, seizing more than 650 boxes of ballots and other materials related to the 2020 election.
The affidavit cites claims about the 2020 election that have been previously disproven and are considered misleading. It is important to note that Fulton County’s 2020 ballots were counted three separate times, with each count affirming the original results.
“This warrant application is part of an FBI criminal investigation into whether any of the improprieties were intentional acts that violated federal criminal laws,” the affidavit explains. It further states that the investigation originated from a referral submitted by Kurt Olsen, who served as the Presidentially appointed Director of Election Security and Integrity.
Olsen played a significant role in Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to contest his narrow 2020 election loss by challenging results in Georgia and other key states. The White House did not respond to NPR’s inquiries on Tuesday regarding Olsen’s involvement in the administration.
The FBI investigation, as detailed in the affidavit, focuses on five alleged “deficiencies or defects” related to the election and the subsequent vote tabulation. However, these claims include issues that have been investigated and found unsubstantiated by state officials. For example, the affidavit mentions missing scanned images of ballots, despite state law at the time not requiring counties to retain such images as official records.
David Becker, a former Justice Department official and current executive director of the Center for Election Information & Research, commented on the affidavit, saying it was “much weaker than I suspected.”
“After more than five years, dozens of court cases, and over a year in total control of the federal government, this is all they’ve got?” Becker said. “If taken at its word, this entire affidavit at most alleges human error after a late night during a global pandemic, all of which had no impact on the outcome of the race.”
Notably, the affidavit does not mention any evidence or suspicions of foreign election interference, prompting questions about the role of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the scene of the raid.
In a letter to Democratic lawmakers following the search, Gabbard defended her involvement in investigating election security. She also confirmed that she “facilitated a brief phone call for the President to thank the [Atlanta-area FBI] agents personally for their work,” a call first reported by The New York Times.
Gabbard added that Trump “did not ask any questions, nor did he or I issue any directives” during the call.
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*This ongoing investigation continues to draw scrutiny as officials and experts assess the validity of the claims and the implications for election integrity in Georgia and beyond.*
https://www.npr.org/2026/02/10/nx-s1-5710649/fulton-county-2020-election-affidavit-fbi